People in the United States take pets very seriously. Whether it’s a dog, cat, fish, rabbit or other animals, pets become valued members of the family.
In recent years, pet ownership has exploded in the U.S. The American Pet Products Association, for example, reported that in 2023, 66% of U.S. households owned a pet. That represents a significant increase from the 56% ownership rate from 1998.
As an increasing number of people today own pets, there is a natural increase in the need for proper veterinary services. In just four years, total US. expenditures on pet care exploded by more than 51% between 2018 to 2022 — from $90.5 billion to $136.8 billion.
At the same time, the number of veterinarians in the workforce has dropped. Much of this is due to the fact that Baby Boomers who work in the industry are continuing to age, and not enough new veterinarians are entering the practice.
All of this presents a unique opportunity for existing veterinarian practices to grow significantly as they help to meet this explosion in demand for pet care at a time when options are more limited for pet owners.
Below, we discuss some great ways that you can grow a veterinarian practice.
Veterinary medicine is a medical science branch that focuses specifically on animals’ health and welfare. Just like healthcare professionals who treat humans, veterinarians are responsible for diagnosing, treating and preventing injuries and diseases in animals.
There are many different specialties within veterinary medicine. This is broken down by the type of animal species — livestock, wildlife, exotic animals or pets, for example — as well as other specialties such as general care, emergency care and surgery.
Just as it is with any business, growth is extremely important for veterinary practices. When a business grows, it can more easily achieve financial stability because it has a larger customer base.
Business growth also leads to improved care for patients, as you’re able to invest in cutting-edge technology, staff development, potential expansion and other services. All of this ultimately leads to your veterinary practice being able to serve the community better, as you can serve more needs.
When you grow your veterinary practice, you can establish a competitive edge over your competition and attract new clients. If your business becomes stagnant, you might find it difficult to attract or retain talented workers to your practice, adapt to ever-changing demands from customers and even cover basic costs of operating your business.
Before you can work on expanding your business, you must first understand your business from the ground up. Veterinary clinic practice owners need to have a good grasp on their business’ value as well as the ways in which to increase it.
There are many factors that can contribute to your clinic’s value, which include …
Once you have a solid grasp on your veterinarian clinic’s value, then you’ll be able to make more informed decisions on what you can improve.
There are many different ways practice owners can grow into a successful veterinary practice. Below are some of the main areas that you should consider, though there are certainly others as well.
Technology is all around us, and it powers nearly every aspect of life. The veterinary industry as a whole is undergoing profound transformations, as today’s digital landscape is rapidly evolving.
If practice owners want to gain an edge on your competitors, they have to be able to keep pace with all of the changes that are happening.
First, ensure that you are offering what are today considered rather basic technological services. For veterinary clinics, this includes things such as offering online payment options, which not only offers your customers convenience but also helps to reduce your fees associated with credit card and check processing.
You might also want to look into the viability of offering telehealth services. This is something that rose in popularity during the pandemic, and it’s something that could be very attractive to dog and cat owners, too.
Telemedicine services can allow clients to get consultations as well as remote care for some health concerns, which gives them more immediate access to care that’s also typically more convenient and even more affordable. From your perspective, telemedicine could help to streamline your offerings and allow you to take on additional patients by expanding hours and reducing the amount of time and resources you need to see each patient.
By investing in things such as social media platforms, you can engage directly with current and prospective clients — providing them with immediate updates through messaging campaigns related to your business as well as promotions you’re running as you educate pet owners.
Online visibility is a key to growing and becoming a successful veterinary practice. When people search for veterinary services in their area, it’s imperative that your practice is one of the first ones that appear in search results.
One effective way to do this is to optimize your Google My Business listing. Directory listings such as this are integral to your success. They enable you to gain greater online visibility to all pet owners in your area.
First, make sure that you fully complete your listing information. If you already have a profile, double check to make sure all of the information including your business location, contact information and hours of operation is accurate and up-to-date. This will ensure that when people find your vet clinic, they’ll be able to quickly find your office and/or get in contact with you.
Next, add any relevant videos or photos to your listing, which can help people feel more comfortable with your practice and actually incentivize them to book an appointment. These pictures should be of both the inside and outside of your vet clinic so that people can know what they can expect.
Another good way to grow your veterinary business is to expand your offerings. The services you currently offer might be driving your profit, but things such as opening a new online store on your veterinary website could help even more.
This online store could provide you the opportunity to produce merchandise and even partner with other local businesses to sell your products to a broader audience. Diversity in products and offerings is a key component to driving business growth, and an online store could help in that regard.
Your business’ brand is vital to driving growth. If you are looking to achieve fast results with your online efforts, and increase your practice’s profitability, one thing you can do is boost your digital advertising efforts.
This, of course, will require an upfront investment, and it may take some time to produce results. However, many businesses find that they can achieve a significant return on investment (ROI) this way, which can dramatically improve cash flow.
Through online advertising, vet clinics like yours can promote their services to a broader audience. Thanks to the digital tools available today, you can specifically target prospective customers based on a number of factors, including their location, demographics and interests. You can even serve different customized ads to different target customers that you can segment based on different demographics.
Digital advertising is also very cost-effective. You can invest in what’s known as pay-per-click campaigns in which you only pay when someone clicks on one of your ads.
A picture can speak a thousand words, as the saying goes, and it applies well to a veterinary practice. By having updated photos of your business that you publish online and as part of other marketing materials, you can gain a significant edge over your competition.
Not only should you update interior and exterior photos of your business, but you can also provide updates on social media platforms to show how great your practice is. You can ask your staffers to take photos of the clinic and of happy customers to post on social media, which shows prospective customers that happy pet owners visit your practice.
You can also use this as a way to showcase new staffers, equipment and other updates you’ve made to your practice that could benefit customers.
While you always want to separate yourself from the competition, it’s a good idea to check out what your competition is doing to try to attract customers. Look at their website, social media pages, online business listings and more.
Discover what your competition is doing to market their business, and you might just discover something that you are missing out on. You may also discover a way that you can uniquely position your veterinary practice to stand out among the crowd.
As mentioned before, telemedicine could potentially help you grow your business significantly. Today, telemedicine isn’t just about providing your clients with convenience; it can also serve as a gateway to new and significant revenue streams.
Figure out how you might be able to harness telemedicine’s power to enhance the services you already offer. Telemedicine could allow you to do everything from provide remote consultations, conduct preventive healthcare and even offer behavioral guidance.
All of this can be done while you also ensure that your patients get the excellent and personal care that they need.
At some point, you may find that you have maximized your potential after you’ve capitalized on the things above. If this happens to you — and even if it doesn’t, really — consider diversifying what you offer. Doing so will not only help you meet the demands of the current market but also allow you to grow and be sustainable for the long haul.
Most veterinary hospitals and clinics generate a majority of their revenue from things such as wellness visits, grooming, dental appointments, surgeries and other immediate care. Is there a way that you could expand any of these services at all, or even offer completely new services, so that you could meet the demand of your current and prospective clients?
Make sure to do your research and find out which services would be most desired in your community. That will help you become more efficient and effective as you’re trying to grow your business.
As any business grows, it can be easy to lose control of expenses. Various expansions, new offerings, additional locations and more employees all have higher costs associated with them — even if they are helping to generate more revenue.
It’s important that as you grow, you keep a keen eye toward your bottom line. The goal isn’t just to grow but to grow profitably. Sure, there may be times when you are only breaking even or taking a small loss as you invest in new technology, services and more.
However, this should only be a short-term solution. Making sure that you’re properly managing your overhead expenses will help to ensure your veterinary practice’s financial health and that you’re building a sustainable business.
How your clinic looks both inside and out plays a big role in the success of your business. When you revitalize the aesthetics of your veterinary clinic, it can have a profound impact not only on patient satisfaction but on employee satisfaction, too.
If things start getting a little tight space-wise as you’re expanding, consider a bigger space to house your clinic. That way, everyone feels comfortable at all times, whether they’re visiting your clinic as a patient or coming there to work every day.
Growing and expanding are important parts of running any business. If you’re looking to grow a veterinarian practice, follow some of the tips we’ve laid out above.
Make sure that you constantly have a pulse on your current customers as well as prospective customers in your area. Improve your online presence so you can easily be found. And stay ahead of the competition by positioning yourself as a leader in your field.
Do all of this, and you’ll find plenty of success growing your practice.
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